WEST LAFAYETTE - From the use of simple No. 2 pencil to modern technology, Hallie Reed is a young artist who works in versatile styles. She uses her artwork as a connection with friends and therapy for dealing with life.

The West Lafayette resident is a junior at Ridgewood High School, where she is a member of the art club. There students join together to work with new ideas and share their love of art. Reed recently completed artwork using pencil, charcoal, and digital formats. She said her art instructor Carissa Dickerson has encouraged her to expand her artistic abilities.

“She has introduced me to new things, and inspires me to try them,” said Reed, who is the featured artist at the West Lafayette Branch Library for the month of January. Several of her pieces can be viewed there in the main reading room.

Her display includes digital art, a portrait done in pencil, and a charcoal drawing of pumpkins that Dickerson assigned last fall. Hallie said she submerged herself in completing the still life when her grandfather, Ivan Beitzel, passed away in November.

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Artwork by Hallie Reed is on display in January at the West Lafayette Branch Library.(Photo: Jennifer Manfrin/for the Tribune)

“I'd stay after school and work on it a lot,” said Hallie, whose artwork provided a therapeutic escape from everyday challenges. “It just helps relieve all the stress and depression put upon me, and helps me deal with issues."

The challenges of drawing have intrigued Hallie since she was a child. She would put paper over images in coloring books and trace them. Though she didn't do much art-wise in middle school, she enjoyed Dickerson's art classes so much that she joined the art club last year.

The club is open to any high school students. They meet after classes on Tuesdays and sometimes during study hall.

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Artwork by Hallie Reed is on display in January at the West Lafayette Branch Library.(Photo: Jennifer Manfrin/for the Tribune)

“It's good to have friends to play off each others' talents. I think it also just helps to connect with other people,” Hallie said.

Inspired by realism and friends, the young artist enjoys drawing people. Music also inspires her, and she has a playlist with everything from '60s classics to '80s rock to electric swing. Her love of music has encouraged her to draw celebrities, including J-Hope from the South Korean band BTS.

“Even though their music is Korean, you realize that music and art transcends languages,” she said.

In addition to some the more traditional art media that Hallie likes to work in, she has also been experiencing with technology as a way to create art.

She uses her tablet and various artistic programs to draw and color with a digital pen, then transfers her digital art to a computer to print. The modern art form is useful in anime, or Japanese animation, and cartooning, which are also of interest to her, she explained.

“I enjoy working in digital,” said Hallie, adding that her older brother Thor is one of her “biggest encouragements” and fans of her modern art which he has shared on social media. “It's a lot easier (than other art form) to undo and redo, and it's easy to color,” she said.

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Artwork by Hallie Reed is on display in January at the West Lafayette Branch Library.(Photo: Jennifer Manfrin/Tribune)

But Hallie likes working in traditional styles just as much, and explained that with the help of Dickerson, she will soon try working in pastels. “My dad recently found his old oil pastels, so I plan to get into that,” she said.

Regardless of the medium or style, Hallie has some advice for young artists that she said has helped her improve and get enjoyment out of the creativity process.

“If you want to get better, practice. Because you aren't going to be good at drawing or any other type of art all at once. One day – if you work hard at it - your hard work will pay off in the end,” she said.